Network traffic is transmitted across a network, such as the Internet, from a sending system (e.g., a computer system) to a receiving system (e.g., a computer system) via a network interface card (NIC). The NIC is a piece of hardware found in a typical computer system that includes functionality to send and receive network traffic.
Traditionally, each computer system included a single operating system and one NIC. However, with the advancement in virtualization technology, computer systems may now include multiple concurrently executing operating systems but still include only a single NIC. In such instances, one of the operating systems executing on the computer system may include functionality to regulate how the single NIC is used by the multiple operating systems.